1. Technical Field
The invention pertains to a disposable garment in the form of a pant diaper or an underpant comprising an outer panty having a rear portion intended to be arranged over the buttocks of a user during use, a front portion intended to be arranged over the belly of a user during use, a crotch portion intended to be arranged in the user's crotch during use and, further, a waist opening with a waist edge and two leg openings each being bordered by a leg edge having a front part located generally on the front portion and a rear part located generally on the rear portion and on the crotch portion and wherein the rear portion and the front portion are mutually connected in two side joins which run from the waist opening to each leg opening.
2. Background Art
It has become increasingly more common to manufacture incontinence protectors in the form of pant diapers. Such pant diapers consist of an outer panty having an integral absorbent inner part. Alternatively, an outer panty can be used together with a separate incontinence shield which is temporarily attached inside the outer panty and which, thus, can be changed for a new incontinence shield while retaining the same outer panty. Both kinds of incontinence protectors are manufactured for infants as well as for incontinent adult persons.
The pant diapers and diaper pants concerned are of the disposable kind, implying that the pant diaper or diaper pant is intended to be discarded after use and not washed or otherwise restored for use. This means that the materials and production methods which are available are those which are cost efficient and do not result in articles having exceedingly high price. In particular, it must be possible to perform assembly steps and similar process operations at high speed, putting certain limitations on the choice of method. A difficulty in this respect is to make joins that closely resemble the seams that can be accomplished in garments made from conventional textile materials. Even if the assembly methods for disposable articles have been considerably improved over time, the joins in disposable articles are still stiffer and more apparent than is a seam in a garment for repeated use. This constitutes a special problem for pant diapers and underpants since such articles usually are joined at the sides. Thus, the side joins will be placed over the hips of the user during use and will often give rise to discomfort by chafing and pressing against the hip bone of the user. This is particularly bad for immobile and/or bedridden users for whom a static pressure against the skin, in the worst scenario, may cause a pressure ulcer. Another particular problem appears when the pant diaper or underpant is used under ordinary clothing such as pants or skirts, which often have their own side seams. There is then a great risk that the location of the side seams on the outer garment will mostly coincide with the location of the side join on the pant diaper or underpant. The double seams will naturally increase the risk of chafing and unpleasant pressure. Furthermore, the combination of garments is unwieldy and uncomfortable and it is hard to conceal the pant diaper or underpant under the outer garment.
A further problem in relation to pant diapers and underpants for supporting incontinence shields is that they have to provide a seal around the waist and thighs of the user so that leakage of body fluids is prevented. In order to achieve such gasketing, diaper pants and underpants are provided with elastic elements in the form of bands or strings that are arranged around the waist opening and around the leg openings. However, elastic elements may also cause unwanted chafing and pressure and, for this reason, there is a wish to minimise the use of elastic elements on disposable garments. In addition, for cost reasons and from a production point of view, it is favorable if the produced garment comprises as few components as possible.
Consequently, there still remains a need for a well-fitting and comfortable article in the form of a pant diaper or an underpant that can be worn under ordinary clothing without causing discomfort. There is also a need for a pant diaper or an underpant that has a comfortable fit and still affords good protection against leakage of body fluids at the leg openings.